Excitement marks opening day at Scotts Ridge

"I would say the excitement level is at an all-time high," said principal

Marie Doyon
. "The smooth transition from the buses to the building really helped - all the buses arriving at the same time. The faculty and the kids are equally excited. In my greeting this morning, I'll say how this is like a 'Happy New Year' for us all, with the same kind of celebratory feeling."
Nearly 1,400 of Ridgefield's 5,558 students are in middle school.
"A lot of this is a big step for the sixth-graders," said sixth-grade math teacher
Art Wallace
. "They have lockers for the first time, walk to classes without teachers escorting them for the first time. Having all this freedom is a big adjustment for them."
For sixth-grader

Tina Vozzo
, 11, the day was a bit confusing.
"I'm not nervous at all. I just don't know my way around yet," Tina said as she looked for her homeroom. "I kind of wanted the summer to last a little longer. My homeroom teacher is Mrs. Dowd. I haven't heard anything about her. I don't know what to expect."
For eighth-graders
Bianca Frisone
and
Alexis Folz
, the day was a time to reconnect.
"We're kind of excited," said Bianca. "It's our last year and we're at the top of the school. I'm looking forward to all the trips we get to go on this year. We get to go whitewater rafting."
Monday was Spanish teacher
Marilyn Gingras
' 31st year teaching in Ridgefield schools. For her, opening day is a rebirth.
"I have past students who write me, parents of students who were also my students at one time. Some write that they are Spanish teachers now. Others write of traveling the world. That's the payoff of teaching - seeing where your students go in life," Gingras said. "I even have past students who are teaching in Ridgefield schools now."
Sixth-graders ease into language studies at the school. Their sixth-grade year is broken into trimesters, with introductions to Spanish, French and German. Then, in the spring, they decide which language they want to study in seventh and eighth grades.
"They're very quiet and very subdued on the first day," said language department head

Phyllis Hackett
. "They don't know what's coming. We make that first day a lot of fun, up-beat and relaxing. We do a lot of oral work so they can go home and say 'My name is ' and ask their parents 'How are you?' It creates full family involvement."
"They have more responsibilities expected of them," said seventh-grade science teacher

Charlsie Tirri
. "I do a fun activity with them the first day, give them a challenge to work on in groups. They build a structure that will support a textbook with computer paper and tape. I'm as excited as they are about starting the new year. That's important. So much of the teacher's excitement and personality determines how the kids progress. If I'm not excited, why should the kids be?"
Seventh-graders
Griffin McCarthy
, 12, and
Connor Shaw
, 13, already had their eyes trained on the end of the school year.
"We're looking forward to the carnival at the end of the year," said Griffin. "We're ready for the school year."
"Our homeroom teachers are Mrs. Johnson and Mr. Santani. I heard he's really nice," Connor said. "It's just another school year."
While many students said they wished the summer stretched on longer, for eighth-grader
Michael-David Mangini
, 13, school couldn't start soon enough.
"It's fun to be back in school with all your friends," Michael-David said. "Math, science, social studies, English - it's all great fun. Summer gets very long. I was looking forward to coming back to school."